Overall
- Wichita
- 88.9
- Huntington-Ashland
- 88.4
Diff -0.5 RPP
Wichita vs Huntington-Ashland
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Huntington-Ashland is 0.6% less expensive than Wichita.
0.6% less expensive
Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH is 0.6% less expensive than Wichita, KS on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 88.4 vs 88.9). A $100,000 salary in Wichita buys about the same as $99,411 in Huntington-Ashland; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 88.9 (Wichita) vs 88.4 (Huntington-Ashland)
- $100k in Wichita ≈ $99,411 purchasing power in Huntington-Ashland
- Rents drives the gap (-15.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair KS:WV 88.9→88.4
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE KS × WV
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-PAR PP near-par
Instrument codes from this pair's BEA Regional Price Parities (overall · goods · services · rents · national benchmark 100 · purchasing-power conversion), not a ranking or recommendation.
Wichita
88.9
Cost Index
Huntington-Ashland
88.4
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Wichita, KS and Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.5 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Huntington-Ashland is 15.0 points lower. But goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
Both metros remain below the U.S. benchmark of 100. This comparison chooses between two below-average price levels; “more expensive” here does not mean nationally expensive.
For a housing-sensitive move, validate the rent gap first: HUD Fair Market Rent and the actual unit size can overturn what the blended index implies. On the BEA ratio alone, $100,000 in Wichita corresponds to $99,411 in Huntington-Ashland.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Wichita
- 94.0
- Huntington-Ashland
- 96.3
Diff +2.3 RPP
Services
- Wichita
- 88.5
- Huntington-Ashland
- 87.9
Diff -0.6 RPP
Rents
- Wichita
- 66.2
- Huntington-Ashland
- 51.3
Diff -15.0 RPP
| Category | Wichita | Huntington-Ashland | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 88.9 | 88.4 | -0.5 |
| Goods | 94.0 | 96.3 | +2.3 |
| Services | 88.5 | 87.9 | -0.6 |
| Rents | 66.2 | 51.3 | -15.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Wichita 88.9
Huntington-Ashland 88.4
Goods
Wichita 94.0
Huntington-Ashland 96.3
Services
Wichita 88.5
Huntington-Ashland 87.9
Rents
Wichita 66.2
Huntington-Ashland 51.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Wichita and Huntington-Ashland share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 6.2 to 0.5 RPP points. Wichita remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 12.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (13.2 to 0.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Wichita RPP | Huntington-Ashland RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 94.2 | 88.0 | 6.2 points Wichita higher |
| 2012 | 92.5 | 89.5 | 3.0 points Wichita higher |
| 2016 | 92.1 | 90.3 | 1.8 points Wichita higher |
| 2020 | 92.0 | 86.9 | 5.2 points Wichita higher |
| 2024 | 88.9 | 88.4 | 0.5 points Wichita higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Wichita would need to be in Huntington-Ashland for the same purchasing power:
| In Wichita | In Huntington-Ashland | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,705 | $-295 |
| $75,000 | $74,558 | $-442 |
| $100,000 | $99,411 | $-589 |
| $150,000 | $149,116 | $-884 |
$ in Wichita = in Huntington-Ashland
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (88.9 → 88.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Huntington-Ashland more expensive than Wichita?
Huntington-Ashland is 0.6% less expensive than Wichita. The overall cost index is 88.4 vs 88.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Huntington-Ashland equals $100K in Wichita?
A $100,000 salary in Wichita has the same purchasing power as $99,411 in Huntington-Ashland. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Wichita and Huntington-Ashland?
Rents in Wichita are indexed at 66.2 while Huntington-Ashland is at 51.3 (national average = 100). Wichita has higher rents.
Data sources
- BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), the cost-of-living indices shown on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), gross-rent observations behind the rents component
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI), goods and services price relatives
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), labor-driven services component
- HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), 40th-percentile rent cross-reference
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.